Joint Polish Investment Fund Makes First Investment in MANTA Instruments, Producer of Breakthrough Nanotech Instrumentation

LA JOLLA, California, December 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Series A Funding will allow MANTA to commercialize ViewSizer 3000, the first instrument to deliver accurate and reproducible nanoparticle concentration and size distribution data 

MANTA Instruments Inc. ("MANTA"), a privately held company producing ViewSizer 3000, the first scientific instrument to deliver accurate and reproducible nanoparticle concentration and size distribution data, announces the first closing of a Series A financing round. The round was led by Joint Polish Investment Fund (JPI Fund), a new Life Science Venture Capital Fund co-financed by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development under the BRIdge VC program. JPIF Fund invests worldwide, in early and mid-stage innovative Life Science companies lead by Polish people, located in Poland or, based on IP generated by Polish nationals. The Triton Technology Fund, MANTA's seed round investor, also participated in the round.

In conjunction with the Series A fund raising, Dr. Axel Polack, JPI Fund General Partner was appointed to the Board of MANTA Instruments.

The Series A funds will be used by MANTA to commercialize ViewSizer 3000, the first scientific instrument capable of providing accurate nanoparticle concentration data. ViewSizer 3000 is also able to generate reproducible size measurements for nanoparticles of mixed sizes and to reliably measure changes in nanoparticle size over time. The ViewSizer 3000, with all these characteristics in a single instrument, provides MANTA's customers with compelling value propositions relative to the legacy instruments. Prior to launching ViewSizer 3000, MANTA successfully completed a beta test program with 10 partners.

ViewSizer 3000 is based on MANTA's pedigreed technology developed around the original IP from the University of California in San Diego (UCSD), the development of which was led by Dr. Dariusz Stramski and Dr. Kuba Tatarkiewich at the Ocean Optics Research Lab at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD.

Rick Cooper, MANTA Instruments CEO, said: "We are delighted to have received this financial support from JPI Fund. JPI Fund's knowledge and experience make them trusted advisors as we take a next critical step in the growth of MANTA, the commercial launch of ViewSizer 3000. We believe its unique properties will enable MANTA to become a leading instrument producer globally in the rapidly developing nanotechnology market."

Dr. Axel Polack, JPI Fund General Partner, said: "We are pleased to have made our first investment in MANTA Instruments whose breakthrough pedigreed technology was developed by Dr. Dariusz Stramski and Dr. Kuba Tatarkiewicz, both leading Polish scientists. We have great confidence in the potential of ViewSizer 3000 and expect it to become a key tool for companies around the world working in the field of nanoparticles."

Leszek Grabarczyk, Deputy Director of the National Centre for Research and Development said: "With our BRIdge VC program we take the necessary risk to support innovation. The projects we decided to invest in together with experienced business partners are indeed innovative but also early stage. We are confident that the involvement of private partners will bring the relevant know-how and guarantees an effective use of funding for this purpose".

The properties of nanoparticle enabled products depend on the size of the nanoparticles which for most applications need to be produced in a certain range of sizes. To address this requirement, companies need access to reproducible nanoparticle characterization data to manage their processes for developing and producing optimized nanoparticles. This need is present across the entire commercialization chain from R&D to manufacturing. MANTA's ViewSizer 3000, based on MANTA's innovative illumination and detection techniques, addresses all these unmet needs allowing its customers to get accurate and reproducible measurements of mixed nanoparticle size distribution and concentration.

MANTA holds the worldwide exclusive license to the system and software intellectual property from UCSD's Office of Innovation and Commercialization.

About MANTA Instruments Inc. 

MANTA is a privately held company that produces scientific instruments to visualize and measure nanoparticles more effectively than any currently available product. With nanoparticle measurements enabled by MANTA, customers have much better control over the development and manufacturing of nanoparticles used in their products. And with better control of these critical components, MANTA's customers are able to make better nano-enabled products faster and more profitably.

MANTA was founded in September 2014 as a spin-out by the UCSD and was selected to participate in the EvoNexus incubator, the premiere tech start-up incubator in Southern California, in November 2014.

For further information please visit http://www.MANTAinc.com/

About Joint Polish Investment Fund 

JPI Fund is a new independent Life Science Venture Capital Fund that invests in worldwide early and mid-stage life science companies lead by polish people or located in Poland. JPI Fund focuses on areas with strong growth and high return potential like medical technology, mobile/personalized health, and selected projects in drug development. 

For further information please visit http://www.jpifund.com/

Contacts
MANTA Instruments Inc.
Rick Cooper, CEO
Tel: 858-449-5801
Email: rick.cooper@MANTAinc.com

Citigate Dewe Rogerson
David Dible, Marine Perrier
Tel: +44-20-7282-9571
Email: david.dible@citigatedr.co.uk

Joint Polish Investment Fund
Dr. Axel Polack, General Partner
Tel: +48-22-398-39-02
Email: apolack@jpifund.com